Steam air type garment finisher

ABSTRACT

A garment finisher having a form for supporting a garment in a generally natural shape, particularly including collar, tail and breast clamp means for holding the garment tightly dressed on the form; means for diverting part of the garment conditioning and inflating fluid normally discharged through the garment generally to perforated front support means for discharge therefrom directly through the garment overlying the support means; and further particularly including an upwardly open bracket on the rear of the neck block suitable to be easily loaded with a conventional wire hanger and be unloaded to remove the hanger hung finished garment at the end of the operating cycle.

United States Patent Buckley Apr. 17, 1973 STEAM AIR TYPE GARMENT 3,262,615 7/1966 Killey ..223/67 FINISHER 3,333,747 8/1967 Glover..... 1223/70 3,512,703 5/1970 Buckley et al.. ....223/70 Inventor! Norman Buckley, Wauwatosa, 3,603,490 9/1971 Killey ..223/70 Wis.

Primary ExaminerGeo. V. Larkin 3 A M -Ed C El [7 1 sslgnee ompany gm AttorneyCharles F. Lind [22] Filed: Jan. 11, 1971 [57] 7 ABSTRACT [21 App]. No; 105,214 A garment finisher having a form for supporting a garment in a enerall natural sha e, articularl includg Y P P y 52 us. 01 ..223/70 mg and breast Clamp for the garment tightly dressed on the form, means for divert- [51] Int. Cl. ..A4lh 5/00 i 58 M f Se h 223 52 l 57 70 mg part of the garment condltionmg and inflating fluld 1 o are normally discharged through the garment generally to 3/67 perforated from support means for discharge therefrom directly through the garment overlying the [56] References C'ted support means; and further particularly including an UNITED STATES PATENTS upwardly open bracket on therear of the neck block suitable to be easily loaded with a conventional wire 3,568,900 3/1971 Paris 223/70 hanger and be unloaded to remove the hanger hung 3,385, 85 5/ 968 Al i 223/70 finished garment at the end of the operating cycle. 2,679,956 l/l954 Richter Kessmg. ...223/70 2,5 I 3,427 7/ I950 Richa et al. ..223/67 3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures I STEAM AIR TYPE GARMENT FINISHER Steam air finishers are commonly used in commercial laundries and dry cleaning plants to finish permanent press type garments. See the Buckley et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,512,703 issued May 1970 for a disclosure of a Garment Finisher of this general type. Typically, shirts, coats, dresses or like garments are dressed on these finishers over a form that holds the garment in a somewhat natural shape, and conditioning fluid such as steam and/or air is applied from inside the garment to inflate the garment to its fullest natural shape. An open front type garment such as a shirt is held against the form by collar and tail clamps with one side adjacent and possibly lapped over the other, and it frequently shifts when inflated from the dressed shape to allow strain lines or wrinkles to set in, particularly along the button hole lap or pocket areas. These multiple ply areas have a tendency to pucker which can be minimized or eliminated if adequate quantities of conditioning fluid can penetrate them while they are drawn taut and virtually wrinklefree. When the garment is not finished wrinklefre, costly touch up ironing or refinishing is required, detracting from the effectiveness of the finisher.

This invention provides for a perforated from lap area on the form and passage means to divert part of the conditioning fluid ordinarily discharged through the garment generally for discharge directly against the portion of the garment dressed over the lap area. The subject invention also provides improved clamp means acting against this lap area that allows tight dressing of the garment front on the finisher and that firmly holds the garment in a manner to minimize shifting during the finishing cycle.

This invention further provides an improved means of supporting a garment holding hanger on the form and over which the unfinished garment can be easily dressed, such that after the finishing cycle the hanger need only be removed and the garment is also carried along with it and is ready to be hung on a storage rack and bagged or the like as a finished garment.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a steam-air garment finisher that economically and efficiently finishes all areas of the garment, particularly the multiple thickness and seamed front button or lap and pocket areas, with little puckering, wrinkling or any evidence of strain lines.

Other objects of this invention are to provide improved means for holding the garment dressed on the form in as close to normal and wrinklefree configuration as possible and firmly with particularly troublesome areas of the garment being drawn tightly over the form, and to direct the conditioning fluid for direct penetration of these specific troublesome areas ofthe garment.

Another object of this invention is to provide clamp means having large cooperating clamp faces which can grip and firmly hold the garment with little or no residual press indentation on the garment and also having selectively located clamp faces that support the garment at particularly critical areas to minimize unsightly strain lines or wrinkles in part caused by shifting of the garment during the finishing cycle.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved hanger holding device on the finisher form suitable to support a conventional wire hanger without distorting the normal form shape, such that a garment dressed on the form is also over the hanger and whereupon after a finishing cycle is concluded the hanger can be removed to draw with it the finished garment already hung on the hanger.

These and other objects of this invention will be more fully understood and appreciated after reviewing the following specification, the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of an improved steam air finisher, with part of the structure and garment being broken away for clarity of disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the finisher, again with part of the structure and garment being broken away for clarity of disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view as seen generally from line 33 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view of the hanger holding part of the subject finisher.

The garment finisher 10 shown includes a base 12 having a blower 14 with its outlet directed through passage 16 to an upwardly directed opening 18 within annular seat 19. The base 12 supports a steam pipe 20 having radial openings 21 that discharge steam upwardly of the opening 18 and a heat exchanger 22 that is across the opening 18 to heat the air passing therethrough. A skeleton-like form 23 is rotatably supported on the base, the form having an inverted funnel shaped bottom section 24 including a seat that slides on the annular seat 19. Front and rear posts 25 and 26 are connected between this bottom section and an upper neck piece 28, and shoulder bars 30 extend laterally from the neck piece. A cloth element 32 is suspended from the form, being secured at its lower end by draw string 34 about the bottom section 24. The lower portion 36 is sleevelike and generally impervious while the upper portion 37 is of an open pervious weave, so that air discharge from the blower and/or steam discharge from the openings 21 is conveyed upwardly to under a garment G dressed on the form.

The garment G is held on the form by clamps including a collar clamp 38, a front tail clamp 40 and a rear tail clamp or retainer 42. The collar clamp 38 is of a bow tie configuration having opposite ends that overlie adjacent opposite sides of the garment at the button flap. The front tail clamp 40 pivots about horizontal pin 44 while the rear tail clamp 42 pivots about horizontal pin 46, each clamp being powered by appropriate means which forms no part of the subject invention. The clamp 40 has a pad 48 of a soft material such as cotton overlying a sponge rubber backing, and this pad holds the lower front part of the garment and against the front face of the form. Arms 50 extend laterally of pad 48 and have friction pads 52 of sponge rubber, for

example; and arms 54 presenting friction pads 56 extend laterally of rear clamp arm 42. Preferably the underlying lower sleeve 36 is larger in cross section than most shirts and inflates and traps the garment against the faces 52 and 54 to frictionally keep the tail part of the garment from creeping up, even though these faces do not back against firm structure.

In the specific disclosure herein, the front post 25 is tubular and hollow having inner wall 59, outer wall 60, and connecting side walls 61. The inner wall 59 has an opening 62 almost opposite the steam openings 21 and is otherwise solid; while the outer wall 60 is solid upwardly to slightly below the waist of a normal garment where it becomes perforated as at 64 up to the collar clamp. Thus, part of the discharge of steam from openings 21 is directed through the opening 62 and up the hollow front post under pressure and thus from the openings 64 for penetration of the multiple ply button areas on the garment. Air also is forced through opening 62 for direct discharge from openings 64, both because of the blower operating and because of the jet pump action of the steam.

Since the conditioning fluid penetrates directly against the garment, improved clamps are possible. Specifically, the post face 60 is a minimum of about 5 inches in width and the pad 48 is slightly wider, and the pad 48 is approximately inches high vertically and set heightwise to engage not only the lower tail part of most shirts but also to extend below the lower edge thereof. This large area clamping minimizes the required clamping pressures and any consequent press indentions or localized compacting of the garment. In addition, arm 70 typically of spring steel is connected to the upper end of the front clamp arm 40 and a pad 72 likewise of cotton overlying rubber is carried thereon. The particular pad 72 is located generally midway between the collar andtail clamps so as to clamp the breast area of the garment against the form.

In operation, the garment, a shirt for example, is dressed over the form with front open button area centered relative to the form and against the face of the front post. The collar clamp 38 is engaged to hold the opposite sides of the garment at the collar in place. Thereafter, the bottom tail of one side of the shirt preferably that side not having the buttons thereon, is stretched down and disposed diagonally across the front post face and manually held in place while likewise the opposite button section is stretched downwardly across the form and over the other garment edge. The front tail clamp is set typically by means of engaging the knee against the clamp and displacing it to the clamping position whereat it positively holds the garment in this dressed manner against the front face of the form. Concurrently with the front tail clamp being set, the breast pad 72 also engages the garment clamping both the crossed edges, and typically laterally or horizontally in line with breast pocket areas of the garment. Under such circumstances and by proper dressing of the garment where the edges are fully stretched lengthwise between the secured collar front tail clamps, most of the seam puckering or wrinkles or strain lines can be minimized or eliminated. Further, the breast pad acting against the form reduces the unsupported span of the open garment edges to minimize ballooning separation of the edges. Because the conditioning fluid discharges directly against the dressed overlapped seam area of the garment, these areas are fully finished.

After the finishing cycle has concluded, the clamps are released and the garment must be removed from the finisher in a manner that it will not get wrinkled by the handling. The subject invention further has an improved means for supporting a conventional wire hanger in place on the form and under the garment in a manner such that it does not hinder the dressing of the garment on the finisher or the effectiveness of the finishing cycle. Specifically, the rear post 26 immediately adjacent the collar or neck form 28 has' further provided a bracket which extends upwardly in a generally spaced parallel relation to the neck form for a limited distance to provide thereby an upwardly open slot 82. The hanger H is adapted to be placed with the interior V section of the hanger within the slot 82 and otherwise hang with the hook portion projected upwardly beyond or above the neck block. The garment G is then dressed over the bag and over the hanger H. The shoulder bars 30 are typically wider than the hanger, and the curvature of the bracket and its cooperation within the neck block 28 is such that the positioned hanger lies flat against the rear form to offer no bulges or the like not acceptable for proper garment finishing. To remove the garment from the form, the top button of the garment can be secured and the hanger lifted with a slightly forward and upward movement from the slot 82 to carry with it the garment G already properly hung on the hanger to minimize any tendency of wrinkling.

What is claimed is:

l. A garment finisher, comprising a garment support form having a shoulder bar and neck block, and front and rear posts extended downwardly from the neck block whereby a garment can be dressed on the form and supported in a natural shape; means to discharge conditioning fluid of air and/or steam upwardly from between the front and rear posts to under the garment; collar clamp means and means to operate the collar clamp means to clamp collar portions of the garment against the front post; tail clamp means and means to operate the tail clamp means to clamp tail portions of the garment against the front post; and another clamp means carried operatively by the tail clamp means and being spaced from and between the collar clamp means and the tail clamp means and heightwise generally aligned with the breast or pocket area of the garment and being small in area compared to the frontal area of the garment operable to hold the underlying part of the garment firmly against the front post of the form.

2. A garment finisher according to claim 1, wherein the separate front edges of the garment are adapted to be dressed against the front post of the form separated from one another at the collar clamp means and overlapped on one another at the tail clamp means, and wherein the other clamp means is disposed to overlie the garment front edges substantially in the area where they initially cross.

3. A garment finisher according to claim 2, wherein the front side of the front post has fluid outlet openings formed therein in the area underlying at least part of the garment and generally between where the collar clamp means and the tail clamp means abut against the post, wherein the means to discharge conditioning fluid of air and/or steam to under the garment are located below the tail clamp means and the from post fluid outlet openings, and wherein wall structures on the rear side of the front post define a passage having an inlet opening in horizontal proximity to the fluid discharge means and extending vertically therefrom to the front post fluid outlet openings operable then to direct part of the fluid from the fluid discharge means for discharge only through the front post fluid outlet openings. 

1. A garment finisher, comprising a garment support form having a shoulder bar and neck block, and front and rear posts extended downwardly from the neck block whereby a garment can be dressed on the form and supported in a natural shape; means to discharge conditioning fluid of air and/or steam upwardly from between the front and rear posts to under the garment; collar clamp means and means to operate the collar clamp means to clamp collar portions of the garment against the front post; tail clamp means and means to operate the tail clamp means to clamp tail portions of the garment against the front post; and another clamp means carried operatively by the tail clamp means and being spaced from and between the collar clamp means and the tail clamp means and heightwise generally aligned with the breast or pocket area of the garment and being small in area compared to the frontal area of the garment operable to hold the underlying part of the garment firmly against the front post of the form.
 2. A garment finisher according to claim 1, wherein the separate front edges of the garment are adapted to be dressed against the front post of the form separated from one another at the collar clamp means and overlapped on one another at the tail clamp means, and wherein the other clamp means is disposed to overlie the garment front edges substantially in the area where they initially cross.
 3. A garment finisher according to claim 2, wherein the front side of the front post has fluid outlet openings formed therein in the area underlying at least part of the garment and generally between where the collar clamp means and the tail clamp means abut against the post, wherein the means to discharge conditioning fluid of air and/or steam to under the garment are located below the tail clamp means and the front post fluid outlet openings, and wherein wall structures on the rear side of the front post define a passage having an inlet opening in horizontal proximity to the fluid discharge means and extending vertically therefrom to the front post fluid outlet openings operable then to direct part of the fluid from the fluid discharge means for discharge only through the front post fluid outlet openings. 